Bhubaneswar: The Central Reserve Police Force personnel deployed in the communal violence affected Kandhamal district will continue to remain on duty till March 15.

This became clear when Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil allowed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s request in this regard in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Apart from the State police, as many as seven battalions of the CRPF had been deployed in Kandhamal after communal violence broke out in the district on December 24 last year.

Mr. Patil agreed to Mr. Patnaik’s request to retain all the seven battalions of the CRPF till March 15, the government said in an official release.

Although the authorities have been claiming that normalcy was returning fast in Kandhamal, various fact-finding teams have found that the people in Kandhamal were still living with fear in their mind. The Chief Minister also made several other demands for strengthening the internal security system, including sanctioning of five more India Reserve Battalions. Mr. Patil assured all possible assistance in this regard.